Bulgaria-Lithuania is a match on the seventh day of Group G of the Euro 2024 qualifiers and is played on Saturday at 6 p.m.: predictions.
After five qualifying matches, Bulgaria is winless and its hopes of reaching one of the top two spots are now hanging by a thread.
The two points won so far are the result of two consecutive draws with Lithuania and Serbia: with both of them the selection led by Serbian Mladen Krstajic shared the stakes (1-1). A month ago, in the last official outing, it had almost managed to avoid defeat with Montenegro (2-1), but a goal by former Fiorentina and Inter Milan player Stevan Jovetic in full recovery prevented it from bringing home its third useful result in a row (excluding, of course, the defeat suffered in the friendly with Iran). It was an opportunity thrown away, as the Montenegrins were already outnumbered at the beginning of the second half due to Vujacic’s expulsion, and seconds later Despodov also missed a penalty kick. Bulgaria’s last success thus dates back to a year ago, when Luvovete had won by a narrow margin over North Macedonia in the Nations League. The main problem of this representative team-a far cry from the glories of the historic fourth place at the ’94 World Cup-remains its poor scoring ability. It is no coincidence that within Group G it is the one that has scored the fewest goals of all, only three in five games.
For both of them, hopes are in the dim light
If they do not win against Lithuania, Bulgaria will officially say goodbye to the possibility of playing in the European Championship to be hosted by Germany next year.
Lithuanian players cheer after a goal
Sabes como prefiero ver el Bulgaria – Lithuania antes que la Kings League de vuelta , eso si , Aniquiladores eliminados en semifinales jajaj lo de cada dia pic. twitter.com/F33bfHZIrI
– Ortizmo (TEAM SUFRIMIENTO) (@Monja_qlia) October 14, 2023
The same is true for the Lithuanians, who like their next opponents have won only two points. The Baltics also have a worse goal difference, having conceded as many as 10 goals, six more than Krstajic’s men: the only draws came in challenges with Bulgaria and Montenegro. In September Serbia also ended its home unbeaten streak, going on to win 3-1 in Kaunas. On the other hand, on the road – leaving out friendlies – Lithuania has not won since as far back as November 2020 (1-2 in Kazakhstan).
The Prediction
The two selections that have done worst in this round and now have negligible chances of snatching a pass to the European Championship face each other. Both have problems in the scoring phase, which is why we do not expect a prolific match. In light of Lithuania’s away performance, we believe Bulgaria will manage to avoid defeat.
The probable lineups of Bulgaria-Lithuania
- BULGARIA (3-4-3): Dyulgerov; Krastev, Antov, Dimitrov; Galchev, Gruev, Kraev, Popov; Petkov, Rusev, Despodov.
- LITUANIA (4-5-1): Gertmonas; Lasickas, Lekiatas, Girdvainis, Beneta; Gineitis, Verbickas, Novikovas, Golubickas, Cernych; Paulauskas.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-0
